streets of gold

The Best Is Yet to Come

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“That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home” (Ephesians 2:19-22, The Message).

Just you forgot where your real Kingdom is, here’s a reminder. It’s easy to make this world feel like our forever home, but it’s not. As my pastor used to say, at best life on this side of heaven is like a very clean bus station (or airport terminal). You can enjoy the stay, but you wouldn’t want to live at a Greyhound or at the nearest international airport.

When you understand where your real citizenship lies, it makes elections way less stressful. You know that this world is passing away along with all the messed up brokenness and injustice. The world that’s coming is so much better not because of pearly gates or streets of gold or even all those people you love being there, but because Jesus is there.

By the way, the Kingdom of God isn’t only an after we die thing. It’s a here and now thing. Every time anyone is born again, that person goes from being a captive to this world’s Godless way of doing things to the freedom of being a child of God and a fellow heir with Christ.

So don’t let the doom and gloom get to you. Remember that the best is still yet to come.

If I Win the Lottery . . .

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If I win the lottery, I won’t go around posting it all over social media. But there would be signs. Just perhaps a modest little cabin in the woods, right?

Truthfully, I do fantasize about owning a home like this. Even though the chances of me living here are about the same as me winning the lottery (or me getting struck by lightning), it’s still fun to picture myself in my red plaid robe walking down those front steps (that are hopefully not iced over like in the picture).

But then I remember Jesus said that in His Father’s house are many rooms, although I prefer the old King Jimmy version that calls them mansions. Whatever I can conjure up in my mind as being over the top ornate and opulent, heaven will be better. It will be a thousand times more incredible than any episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with all its champagne wishes and caviar dreams.

But the best part of all won’t be the streets of gold or all the gates with precious stones. It will be seeing Jesus there. The joy of every longing heart will be made sight and the hope of the world will wipe away every tear from our eyes in a place where there is no more need for grieving.

That’s what I look forward to more than anything else. I long for no more bad news. I long for no more reports of murder and bloodshed and war and hatred and unrest. I long for when the lion can lie down with the lamb in peace and safety.

But if it’s God’s will for me to live in the cabin pictured above, I’d do my best to suffer through it for the Lord and put on my best face in the attempt. One can dream, can’t one?

Dem Golden Streets

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“The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate expertly crafted from a single beautiful pearl. And the city street was pure gold, yet it was as transparent as glass.

And in the city, I found no temple because the Lord God, the All Powerful, and the Lamb are the temple. And in the city, there is no need for the sun to light the day or moon the night because the resplendent glory of the Lord provides the city with warm, beautiful light and the Lamb illumines every corner of the new Jerusalem” (Revelation 21:21-23).

Today as I was driving home from work, I was almost blinded by the setting sun blazing directly in my eyes.

I also noticed how the way the sunlight reflected off the pavement made the road looked golden. It was almost as if I-440 West was paved with gold.

It got me thinking about the place in the Book of Revelation where John describes the streets of heaven as being paved with gold.

This is just me thinking out loud, but what if those streets appear golden because they are reflecting the glory of God. After all, the same book mentions that there will be no need for sun or moon because God and His glory will be the only light there.

I never thought the afternoon commute would ever turn so theological. Nashville traffic inspires lots of thoughts and ideas, but most of them are very non-Baptist. So it was a nice change of pace to be sitting in rush-hour madness thinking of heavenly streets of gold in a new way.

So take that for however you want. It’s just a thought I had.